The Bridge World

MASTER SOLVERS CLUB

Scores for the August 2021 Contest

Problem A

Matchpoints
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A 8 4

♥ 10 8 4 3

♦ K Q J 8

♣ A 4

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1 ♦	Pass	1 ♠	2 ♥
Double^*	3 ♥	4 ♣	Pass
?

^*BWS: three spades

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
4 ♦	100	11	46
5 ♣	80	6	12
4 ♥	80	4	9
4 NT	70	2	3
Pass	50	3	5
4 ♠	20	0	23
6 ♠	0	0	1
5 ♠	0	0	1
else	0	0	0

Problem B

Imps
East-West vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ J 10 5

♥ Q 10

♦ J 8 4 3 2

♣ A 9 4

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	Pass	1 ♥	3 ♣
Pass	Pass	Double	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♦	100	14	42
4 ♣	60	6	3
4 ♥	60	3	9
3 NT	60	2	11
3 ♥	40	1	19
4 ♦	40	0	3
Pass	30	0	13
else	0	0	0

Problem C

Matchpoints
North-South vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A K 10 3

♥ Q 10 6 2

♦ 7 4 2

♣ Q 5

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	1 ♥	Pass	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
1 NT	100	16	54
Pass	70	6	19
1 ♠	50	3	26
Double	30	1	2
else	0	0	0

Problem D

Imps
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ K 9 7 4

♥ A J 10 7 3 2

♦ 10 3 2

♣ —

(A) As dealer, what call do you make?
(a1) Pass; (a2) 1 ♥; (a3) 2 ♥.

(B) If East dealt and opened three clubs, what call would you make?
(b1) Pass; (b2) Double;
(b3) 3 ♥; (b4) 4 ♣ [BWS: majors.]

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
a1 \| b3	100	15	24
a2 \| b3	70	4	10
a1 \| b1	60	3	27
a3 \| b3	60	2	10
a1 \| b2	60	1	5
a2 \| b1	30	1	4
a1 \| b4	10	0	0
a3 \| b1	0	0	12
a2 \| b2	0	0	4
a3 \| b2	0	0	1
a3 \| b4	0	0	1
else	0	0	2

Problem E

Imps
North-South vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ Q 7 3

♥ A 10 9 7 2

♦ A J

♣ A 10 4

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	1 ♣	Pass	Pass
1 ♥	Pass	1 ♠	Pass
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
2 ♣	100	15	37
2 ♠	60	7	25
3 ♠	60	4	8
1 NT	20	0	20
4 ♠	20	0	0
Pass	10	0	4
2 NT	0	0	6
3 NT	0	0	1
else	0	0	0

Problem F

Imps
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A K J 6 5 2

♥ K

♦ Q 10 6

♣ A K 5

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
1 ♠	Pass	2 ♥	Pass
2 ♠	Pass	3 ♣	Pass
?^*

What call do you make?

^*4 NT natural by agreement

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
3 ♦	100	21	54
4 ♣	40	4	16
3 ♥	30	1	1
3 ♠	20	0	11
4 NT	10	0	10
3 NT	0	0	3
6 NT	0	0	2
5 NT	0	0	1
else	0	0	2

Problem G

Imps
Neither side vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ —

♥ A K J 7 6 5 2

♦ —

♣ A K Q J 10 5

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	——	1 ♠
?

What call do you make?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
7 ♣	100	7	10
2 ♥	90	6	7
2 ♣	90	1	0
2 ♠	80	7	64
6 ♣	70	3	2
6 ♥	70	1	7
4 NT	70	1	0
Double	40	0	4
5 ♠	40	0	2
4 ♥	40	0	1
4 ♠	40	0	1
5 NT	40	0	1
7 ♥	40	0	1
1 NT	40	0	0
2 ♦	40	0	0
2 NT	40	0	0
3 ♣	40	0	0
3 ♦	40	0	0
3 ♥	40	0	0
3 ♠	40	0	0
3 NT	40	0	0
4 ♣	40	0	0
4 ♦	40	0	0
5 ♣	40	0	0
5 ♦	40	0	0
5 ♥	40	0	0
6 ♦	40	0	0
6 ♠	40	0	0
6 NT	40	0	0
7 ♦	40	0	0
7 ♠	40	0	0
7 NT	40	0	0
Pass	40	0	0
else	0	0	0

Problem H

Imps
North-South vulnerable
You, South, hold:

♠ A K 5

♥ A Q 8

♦ 10 9 2

♣ 7 5 3 2

SOUTH	WEST	NORTH	EAST
——	——	——	1 ♣
Pass	1 ♠	Pass	2 ♣
Pass	2 ♦	Pass	2 NT
Pass	3 NT	(All Pass)

What is your opening lead?

Action	Score	Panel Votes	% of Solvers
♠ A	100	11	14
♠ 5	90	8	8
♠ K	80	5	20
♦ 10	50	2	41
♦ 9	50	0	0
♥ A	30	0	5
♥ Q	20	0	9
♣ 5	0	0	2
♥ 8	0	0	1
else	0	0	0

MSC CONTEST

These are the scores that were assigned to the problems, as well as the number of votes each solution received from our expert panel, and the approximate percentage of solvers' answers.

See the August issue of The Bridge World to read the panel's in-depth discussion of these contest problems—see how each expert answered and learn how they came to their decisions.